NEW BOOK: PART OF ROTTERDAM

PRESS RELEASE — This week PART OF ROTTERDAM, a retrospective on the work of the Rotterdam harbor painter Sasja Hagens, will be published. Her oeuvre is an ode to the city and port of Rotterdam and produces a colorful book in which the Maas forms the basis of almost every work. In which ships come and go, tankers are cleaned, while construction sites in the center are transformed into stately avenues. With the book Hagens provides insight into her perspective, process and working method.

PART OF ROTTERDAM € 50,- order: sasjahagens@gmail.com

MUSEUM BOIJMANS VAN BEUNINGEN & MARITIEM MUSEUM WILL SHOW HAGENS

Till September 2022 Museum Boijmans van Beuningen & Maritiem Museum Rotterdam are exhibiting Hagens: ‘Maritieme Meesterwerken’ / ‘Maritime Masterpieces’. Really excited to hang my work next to a.o. Willem de Kooning, Frank Stella & Claude Monet.

Read: Vigour, desire,life ‘Maritime Masterpieces’: the salty sea air of harbour life across six centuries

Photo by Marco de Swart (c)

EXHIBITION AT KUNSTHALLE TRIER, GERMANY

From March 4 till April 17 2022 Kunsthalle Trier will show my painting Unbounded in exhibition ‘Heimathäfen’.

„Manchmal fragen mich die Leute, warum ich so viel Zeit damit verbracht habe, Häfen zu malen – ein so offensichtliches Thema. Aber ihre Größe und industrielle Qualität entzünden das Feuer in mir. “

Unbounded | Diptych | 140 x 340 cm | Acrylic paint and emulsion on canvas | Sasja Hagens (c)

NRC PUBLICATION

“When she painted the Port of Rotterdam for the first time twenty-five years ago, artist Sasja Hagens received somewhat compassionate reactions. They would ask me: “Are you painting boats?” Naked ladies or floral still lifes, now that was just about acceptable. But boats... that was something old men would paint.”

TV ITEM RTV RIJNMOND

“Hagens now prefers to enter the port as little as possible. “It’s in my head. I don’t want to be distracted by the harbor anymore. It sounds strange, but that harbor is on my hard drive, I want to paint it from my heart.””

AD PUBLICATION

“She will not paint a ship in refined and recognizable features. “Repainting something as it is, that’s super boring,” says Sasja Hagens. Her work is colorful and just as tough and robust as the ‘giants of the sea’ themselves. The port of Rotterdam has been her lust and her life for 25 years.”

WHY I PAINT THE HARBOUR: JURASSIC PARK

Our family often took vacations on our tiny sailboat. The wooden 7.10m Waarschip was called Waratje.

With two older brothers and a little sister, there was not much for me to do during our sailing trips. My brothers sailed the boat with my father. I was often bored and sat on the floor of the cabin. I often stared at the depth gauge. Making sure we didn’t get stuck on a sandbank. My father occasionally cut a course between the buoys.

We would always sail in Zeeland, Haringvliet, Hollands Diep, Veerse Meer. I still remember our outboard motor. 8 HP was stamped on it. I asked my father, ‘Dad, what does 8 HP mean?’. To which he replied, 8 Horsepower. As strong as eight horses. And in my imagination I saw eight harnessed jet-black horses pulling our little boat forward, and I thought, ‘8 horsepower, more than enough.’

One day my parents had set course for Breskens. For that we had to cross the Western Scheldt. We had never been there before. A busy shipping route runs right through the Western Scheldt, which connects openly to the North Sea.

We sailed up the Western Scheldt in Waratje: father, mother and 4 children. I remember the feel of the swell; I had never seen waves this high before. And the sails were lowered because sailing is forbidden in a shipping channel. We were lifted high on a wave, and I saw the propeller of our 8 HP outboard motor turning helplessly in the air and in the subsequent wave trough I saw the entire outboard motor disappear under water together with the stern. The engine stalled.

Now the six of us were adrift in perhaps the busiest shipping channel in Europe. The sails had to be raised again, and my father kept pulling the starter cord on our soaking-wet outboard. And then it happened, the shouted commands on board were deafening ....

Because here they came
one by one,
like a scene from Jurassic Park.
The absurdly large container ships passed right by us.
Slow and unapproachable.
So close,
I was enchanted.
For good.

Sasja Hagens - January 2021

COLLABORATION WITH MPV GALLERY

Since spring 2020 SNOEK // HAGENS have a new partner: MPV Gallery. Our new series Cloud Cuckoo Land is purchasable at the webshop and in the gallery in ‘s Hertogenbosch.

 'In this new series I focus on the manmade landscape instead of industry itself. I paint a rapid changing world in which humans literally move mountains and rivers.

Equilibrium and perspective, the spontaneous opposed to the rational are important themes in my work. How we look at the world influences the way we treat it.'

For questions call Mark Peet at +31654694728 or send a WhatsApp message.

PARTICIPATION DURING ROTTERDAM ART WEEK 2020

Our studio building will open her doors on February 6-9th, every day from 09.00 - 11.00 am. Mark in your calender.

Come and get your morning coffee, I look forward to your presence.

Address: Ackersdijkstraat 20 (- studio 002)

Updates can be found on our Instagram-page.

A NEW COLLABORATION?

SNOEK // HAGENS are ready for new collaborations. We would love to help you with our custom-made interior designs.

Send an e-mail to brainstorm (no strings attached): info@snoek-hagens.nl

NEW WEBSITE FOR SNOEK // HAGENS

Good news! A brand new website for SNOEK // HAGENS. Feel free to take a look.

PORT OF DOVER WINS ESPO AWARD 2019

After the Espo Award show in Brussels, Painting no. 4/8 from the series Colours of ESPO departed to the UK!

STUDIO PARTY

In November we celebrated the release of our new series Interference / Sublime on Steroids. Thanks all for coming!

SHOW AT GALLERY MONTMARTRE, PARIS

S N O E K & H A G E N S will have a show in Paris in September 2019.

Working on a brand new series now…
In collaboration with Galerie Montmartre

EXHIBITION EXCELLENT FAIR 2018 | SNOEK & HAGENS

With her familiar use of form and color, painter Sasja Hagens shows her latest series of paintings, in collaboration with artist/designer Saar Snoek at the Excellent 2018 fair in Ahoy Rotterdam.

'We create landscapes that have never been made - no one is really doing this.'

The series of wall sculptures includes a combination of organic randomness and mechanical precision. Authentic craftsmanship in material use of hand-painted silk, wool, steel and brass in a refreshing interaction with innovative lasercutting techniques. Inspired by the School of Kanō, a Japanese art movement from the 15th century, Snoek and Hagens show their latest work on wooden panels.

SASJA HAGENS
Artist / painter Sasja Hagens lives and works in Rotterdam. In 1992 she was selected for the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where she graduated in 1996. Since then, she has exhibited her work in a.o. Hong Kong, Basel, Helsinki and Milan. She also had a successful solo show at The Duolun Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in Shanghai. Her work has been purchased by for example Maritime Museum Rotterdam, Deloitte, AKD Advocaten, ABN AMRO, Arcadis, Damen Shipyards and City Hall Rotterdam.

SAAR SNOEK
Artist / designer Saar Snoek won the World of Wearable Arts Wellington (New Zealand) award in 2017 and her work was also included in the highly praised WOW collection. This year she was also the finalist of this international design competition. Finally, she exhibited with her project Prayer Rugs in Richmond Virginia USA and Doha, Qatar.

OPENING HOURS
Thursday, October 25th | 19.30-00.00h (opening night)
Friday, October 26th | 14.00-22.00h
Saturday, October 27 | 12.00-19.00h
Sunday, October 28 | 11.00 - 18.00h

COLLABORATION WITH DAMEN SHIPYARDS

This summer and fall of 2018 I'm working on a series of 8 paintings for Damen Shipyards. The paintings will be given to brand new Damen shipowners. 

CONCEPT DEVELOPING ANNIVERSARY CE DELFT

Organisation CE Delft asked to develop and to run a concept for their 40-year anniversary. 

LANDSCAPE & LEGACY

Our landscape is passed on from generation to generation. 

We are at the beginning of a technological revolution, what will have an impact on our environment. Artist and organizer of this anniversary Sasja Hagens made a selection of activities. We will experience a surprising mix of workshops and tours in Rotterdam, matching the theme Landscape & Legacy.

We went on field research with the following questions;
How do we define a natural landscape?
Which future landscape will we experience as valuable?
How far can technology influence our emotion?

In collaboration with: 
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Het Nieuwe Instituut
TENT Rotterdam
BlueCity 010
UrbanGuides
Saar Snoek
Chantal van Heeswijk
Raph de Haas
Lucie Havel
Susanne Moolenaar
Esther Kokmeijer
Lisa Diederik

PORT OF ROTTERDAM AND ESPO BRUSSELS JOIN FORCES AT ESPO CONFERENCE | SOLO SHOW SASJA HAGENS (31 MAY - 1 JUNE 2018)

The two organizations are also collaborating with Dutch port painter Sasja Hagens for a solo show in the Onderzeebootloods (Submarine Hall in Rotterdam). Exclusively for the ESPO conference, Port of Rotterdam selected her best harbourscapes and industrial landscapes from the last few years. The artworks will be presented on a 10-meter wall. 

With strong colours and daring compositions, Sasja Hagens gives her own interpretation to the themes of harbourscapes, industrial- and future landscapes. Hagens: 'People sometimes ask me why I've spent so much time painting ports, such an obvious theme. But their size and industrial quality light the fire in me.' 

Her paintings are in collection of (a.o.) Maritime Museum Rotterdam, City Hall Rotterdam, ECT Rotterdam - Hong Kong, Arcadis and Deloitte The Netherlands.

Hagens' work is also widely exhibited, for example during a big solo exhibition at Duolun (MOMA) in Shanghai, Habitare in Helsinki, Oblast Art Museum Kemerovo (Russia) and Museu Maritim in Barcelona. Recently, her work has been on show in Hong Kong twice. 

Since 2016 Hagens is working together with ESPO in designing the coveted and prestigious ESPO Award. This series of paintings are reflecting the overall scope of the Award, i.e. how ports and cities are living and working together. The last painting will be handed out in 2023. 

EXHIBITION AT GALLERY UNTITLED

Works from my Kalypso serie are in a group show at Gallery Untitled the following two months.
Gallery Untitled is open on fridays and saturdays from 10.00 - 18.00. 
Koningsveldestraat 14, 3037 VS, Rotterdam. 

GUADELOUPE WINS ESPO AWARD

The theme of this year’s ESPO Award was ‘Art and Cultural involvement of the port’. Guadeloupe Ports Caraïbes won the 2017 Award for its project, Port’Art, which is intended to appeal to a grassroots audience and address day-to-day objects and topics. The Port’Art initiative has been built and developed in line with the situation and challenges faced by the Region and includes several aspects:

• Providing the general public with access to local port heritage
• Supporting local artistic creativity
• Sponsoring initiatives with a maritime and heritage appeal
• Supporting cultural initiatives that address the preservation of tropical biodiversity
• Raising awareness of local port culture

By giving residents the opportunity to visit historic buildings or by turning port facilities into art and cultural venues, we encourage people to come and get to know their port and gain a full sense of ownership of it in a different way. 

Viviane François-Julien, Manager of the Communication and International Relations at Guadeloupe Ports Caraïbes, cited F. Nietzsche: “No winner believes in coincidence" and continued by stating that winning this Award has been the result of a fruitful collaboration with my team and especially Axelle Bangou; backed by the renewed trust placed in our work by the successive presidents Mr Kalil and Mr Salaun.”